Dr. Jill Stackhouse

Assistant Professor

Bio

Jill Stackhouse is an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geography at Bemidji State University. Self described as an Urban Geographer, Dr. Stackhouse teaches a wide variety of subjects across the discipline including Introduction to GIS, Cartography, Introduction to World Regional Geography, Urban, Political and Economic Geography, Weather and Climate, and Latin American Geography.

Dr. Stackhouse has been an instructor since 2000 and began teaching at Bemidji State in 2012. She will begin developing other topical courses covering regions such as South and East Asia, The Geography of the Middle East and Intermediate GIS for future academic years. The two regional courses capitalize on her extensive travels.

Dr. Stackhouse earned her PhD in Geography from Syracuse University in 2007 and her MA in Geography at Georgia State in 2001. She also holds two Bachelor of Science degrees in Geography and Business Administration from Middle Tennessee State and Oregon State University, respectively. Dr. Stackhouse’s dissertation entitled “The State of Housing, the Business of the State: The Spatial Consequences of Housing and Urban Development Policies developed by the Entrepreneurial State in Chile (1973-1989)” capitalized on her experience in a large corporation to provide a more rigorous analysis of the housing policies promoted by the military government in Chile. This topic positioned Dr. Stackhouse well to teach a variety of subjects including Latin American Geography, Economic Geography, Political Geography and Urban Geography. While not fluent in Spanish, she manages.

Prior to moving to Bemidji, Dr. Stackhouse actively integrated her Introduction to GIS course into service projects for Georgia Southern University and Bulloch County. Two projects included mapping housing activity for Habitat for Humanity, Bulloch County and, in conjunction with the Department of Biology, mapping Herpetology of Georgia’s Coastal Plain for the GSU Museum. She plans to develop and continue GIS Service Learning Opportunities here at Bemidji State.

Presently, Dr. Stackhouse has two research projects in process. (1) She is working on an analysis of Micropolitan Statistical areas along Southern Georgia’s I-16. Preliminary findings for this project were presented at the 2010 AAG (Association of American Geographers) conference as part of a panel on Micropolitan Statistical areas. This research includes a GIS component and case studies of Vidalia and Dublin Georgia as exemplars of Micropolitan areas. Once completed, she plans to develop similar studies in Minnesota and neighboring states. (2) She will be working with Senior student Taylor Knight to develop a research agenda on Company Towns in South America. This project has at its core the purpose of analyzing the imprint of corporate culture on the urban landscape. She also develops maps for special purposes when time permits.

Dr. Stackhouse has also recently published (September 2012) a reader to supplement both her Introduction to World Regional Geography and Human Geography courses. Specifically geared to new students of geography, the anthology entitled Spatial Connections will use a variety of readings that touch on all sub-disciplines of the field. Her recent collaboration with Naturalist Dirk Stevenson, The Amphibians and Reptiles of the Altamaha River, Georgia has been submitted for publication (September 2012). It features an analysis and GIS mapping of herpetological fauna near the Altamaha River collected through extensive surveys.

In her spare time, Dr. Stackhouse travels. Recent adventures include trips to major cities in Central Europe (Budapest, Krakow, and Bratislava to name a few) and to South Africa with a short day trip into Lesotho. Other trips have taken her to Madagascar, Morocco, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Nepal and China. Check out her postcard bulletin board across from her office! Favorite photos often appear in her lectures and on the cover of Spatial Connections.